Talk about kickin' it up a notch. The University of Wisconsin football team will open the 2015 season against two-time defending BCS champion Alabama, the athletic department announced on Wednesday. The game will be played on a neutral site at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX on September 5.
In a statement released by the UW athletic department, UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said,
“As a league we decided that we needed to upgrade our non-conference schedule. We understand that strength of schedule will be a factor in determining which teams earn the right to participate in the new four-team playoff system and we want to be in that mix. There’s no better way to do that than by playing the defending national champions. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a storied program like Alabama in a terrific venue like Cowboys Stadium. It will be a great experience for our program, our players and our fans.”
Earlier this year, Alvarez explained the Big Ten Conference would no longer schedule FCS schools in football. At that time, he noted that the strength of the non-conference schedule would need to be elevated in order for programs like Wisconsin to be included in the discussion for the new BCS playoff system that will debut in 2014.
If you're racking your brain trying to figure out when the last time Wisconsin faced an SEC team in a non-bowl situation, you'll have to go back to 1972 when the Badgers lost to LSU, 27-7. The only time Wisconsin played Alabama was back in 1928 - a game won by the Badgers.
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